There is so much pressure on my resume! Where do I start?

There Is So Much Pressure When It Comes To Writing Your Resume

Where do I start? Does it have to be one page? How can I possibly speak to all of the requirements in this job description? After applying to hundreds of jobs only to hear a pin drop, job seekers turn to the “professionals.” Don’t believe job seekers pay for this type of service? Do a quick google search.

Start By Getting Inside The Brain Of The Recruiters Who Are Reading Your Resume

Creative writing was a fun elective course in school but has no business on your resume. Recruiters spend an average of 6 seconds reviewing your resume before they decide whether or not to interview you. Let’s make those seconds count!

One page

Don’t try to make it one page. Make it one page. Remember you have six seconds to get the interview, and you can’t afford to lose one to the flipping of a page or the scrolling of a screen.

Objective

Start your resume with one sentence which states what you want out of your next career opportunity. Do not explain why you want it or why you’re qualified. The objective serves one purpose: show your [want] aligns with the employer’s [need].

Education

We hope one day people look past 4-year diplomas and elitist pedigrees. Until then, put your education directly beneath the objective and streamline into 1-2 lines. Make it easy for people to check the box in the first second of reading your resume.

Work experience

Each experience should not have equal weight. The most recent/relevant experience needs to pop.

Rules for work experience:

No more than five bullet points per work experience

No more than 15 words per bullet point.

Remember, recruiters are reading this incrementally:

“Should I take a call with this person?”

“Do I want to spend 10-30 minutes with this person?”

“Does this person meet the minimum requirement my stakeholder and I discussed?”

Give them the trailer, not the whole movie. Leave your reader wanting to learn more about how your experience will drive the employer’s business forward. In case your work experience accounts for the majority of your career, we’ll give you ten bullet points.

Skills

Remove the stand alone skills section. Instead, weave them into the bullet points where applicable so recruiters can understand the context of when and where you used said skills.

In Conclusion

Writing your resume is hard. Before you pay someone else to tell your story, try these pro tips. These tips won’t change the fact that globally, employers hire two percent of applicants. They will make the recruiter’s decision to interview you based on your background and experience, not on someone else’s creative writing skills.

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Published by techmatchmaker

I'm a full-stack talent engineer. From agency recruiting to head of talent, from managing programs to designing global, system integrations, I always have been and always will be an advocate for the job seeker.
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